REPORT ON SCOTTISH ORNITHOLOGY IN I915 157 



gull on the 8th, and the first Razorbill on the loth, while 

 the first Kittiwake's egg was laid on the 23rd. Young 

 Grouse were found at Oxton, Berwickshire, on 15th May, 

 and two Wood-warblers' nests with eggs were found in East 

 Lothian on 26th May. On 29th May at Corsemalzie a 

 Common Sandpiper with four three-quarter-grown young 

 was seen by the burn, a very early date for this species to 

 have well-grown young. On the same date, a Spotted 

 Flycatcher had a nest and five eggs in the ivy on the 

 house at Corsemalzie ; it had a second brood, and by 6th 

 August was feeding a second family of four. On ist June 

 a Little Grebe in Arisaig , Forest had two stripy young, 

 and this species is also recorded as nesting at Kirkmichael 

 during the month. A Hedge - sparrow at Arisaig had a 

 nest and young on the 4th ; this was the only nest of 

 the species found in the district, and was built in some 

 ivy at the station. A Redstart's nest and eggs was found 

 at Craignish on the 2nd June ; while by the 8th Great 

 Spotted Woodpeckers were seen feeding young at Gask, 

 and on the 12th Willow Tits were similarly employed on 

 Bathgate Hills. The Arctic Terns at Whalsay Skerries 

 had "nests and eggs in every direction" on 12th June; 

 they left the island later, and under date of 14th July 

 our correspondent there writes, " most of the Terns have 

 left, their young have apparently died of starvation." From 

 Pentland Skerries, too, come sad tales of great mortality 

 among the young Terns; on i8th July hundreds are 

 reported dead or dying, this being attributed to the heavy 

 rainfall on the i6th. But under 26th to 31st we find 

 the note, " hundreds of young birds dying, and the Terns 

 daily decreasing in numbers." On 19th June the Terns 

 on Tentsmuir all seemed to be hatching, and enormous 

 numbers were seen; "breeding more thickly than ever" 

 is the note made on this date. A Woodcock's nest and 

 four eggs was found near Duns on 22nd June, a very late 

 date. On 4th July a Great Spotted Woodpecker boring 

 was seen in a wood on the Cardross estate, Lake of Menteith, 

 and on the i6th two newly-fledged Little Terns were seen 

 in Largo Bay, having evidently been bred near by, as they 



